Evolving the Super(hero) Genre
Activision and Radical Entertainment invited us for some quality time with their impressive and highly anticipated project Prototype. Here’s what we’ve got.
Published: April 8, 2009
We at TPS occasionally consider ourselves lucky bastards: We receive invites to expensive hotels only to be greeted by beautiful and friendly female PR managers who end up talking to us about video games and actually are honestly excited about the topic. A happening of that kind occurred on Friday last week when Activision and Radical Entertainment invited us to a suit at the Sir Francis Drake hotel in downtown San Francisco giving us the chance to play some Prototype.
The demonstration was a rather brief one and we only got our hands on the Xbox 360 version of the game, however all of that wasn’t a mood breaker because what we saw and played probably would have made up for just about anything.
Alex Mercer is a poor sucker. He woke up in the most gruesome place one can imagine waking up in: A morgue. Having lost his memory and been given supernatural powers such as enormous strength, speed and most importantly rage instead, he commences his journey on exposing those who are responsible for turning him into a mutant freak and having ultimately destroyed any hope for a normal and happy life he ever had.
The most interesting part of Prototype’s story, and what makes it so much more compelling than the standard revenge plot, is how it’s not used as an excuse for the actions you carry out throughout the game but rather how Radical is trying to implement it into the gameplay itself. Alex’s goal is to learn as much about his past and the conspiracy around his abilities as he possibly can while at the same time being on an absolutely ruthless self finding trip. He doesn't care for any innocent citizens that might get hurt or even killed in the process. Primarily using his super powers to his own gain, one of his major abilities lets him consume human beings in order to attain their own knowledge, looks and even memories. Let me give you a simple example here: If Alex consumes a person who just so happens to be a pilot, he attains all of his abilities including the handling of any aircraft the pilot is qualified to handle. No regrets here. The pilot needs to die because Alex needs his know-how. So you see? Alex is not your typical Peter Parker superhero. He is more than that and we’re glad he is because we really can’t bear those milky-, softy-, booby faces any longer.
The demonstration was a rather brief one and we only got our hands on the Xbox 360 version of the game, however all of that wasn’t a mood breaker because what we saw and played probably would have made up for just about anything.
Alex Mercer is a poor sucker. He woke up in the most gruesome place one can imagine waking up in: A morgue. Having lost his memory and been given supernatural powers such as enormous strength, speed and most importantly rage instead, he commences his journey on exposing those who are responsible for turning him into a mutant freak and having ultimately destroyed any hope for a normal and happy life he ever had.
The most interesting part of Prototype’s story, and what makes it so much more compelling than the standard revenge plot, is how it’s not used as an excuse for the actions you carry out throughout the game but rather how Radical is trying to implement it into the gameplay itself. Alex’s goal is to learn as much about his past and the conspiracy around his abilities as he possibly can while at the same time being on an absolutely ruthless self finding trip. He doesn't care for any innocent citizens that might get hurt or even killed in the process. Primarily using his super powers to his own gain, one of his major abilities lets him consume human beings in order to attain their own knowledge, looks and even memories. Let me give you a simple example here: If Alex consumes a person who just so happens to be a pilot, he attains all of his abilities including the handling of any aircraft the pilot is qualified to handle. No regrets here. The pilot needs to die because Alex needs his know-how. So you see? Alex is not your typical Peter Parker superhero. He is more than that and we’re glad he is because we really can’t bear those milky-, softy-, booby faces any longer.
